Well drilling apparatus



Feb. 25, 1936.

W. L. CHURCH WELL DRILLING APPARATUS Filed Feb. 5, 1954 fiatented PATENTOFFICE WELL DRILLING APPARATUS Walter L. Church, Houston, Tex, assignorof onehalf to W. L. Pearce, Harris County, Tex.

Application February 5, 1934, Serial No. 709,839

6 Claims.

This invention relates to well drilling apparatus.

An object of the invention is to provide means for supporting a drillstem, or other pipe, in a well bore without the use of the conventionalslips.

In carrying on well drilling operations, by the rotary method, it iscommon practice tosupport the drill stem suspended from the rotary tableby means of wedge shaped slips which are seated in a downwardlyconverging seat in the rotary table and which grip the stem and hold itsuspended while making up the stem in going into the bore, or whilebreaking out the stem in withdrawing it from the bore. These slipsusually cut, or indent, the stem and injure and weaken it, causing it todeform and often causing it to twist off.

It is one of the objects of this invention to provide means forsupporting said drill stem or other pipe in a well bore, which will notinjure, deform, or weaken the stem or pipe.

Another :object of the invention is to provide means for holding thesuspended pipe against rotation without the use of back up tongs when itis desired to break out the stem or pipe, in withdrawing the stem fromthe bore. At the present time it is common practice in rotary welldrilling, to use two pair of tongs, one a back up tong, to hold thesuspended string against rotation, .and'the other to unscrew the jointabove to be broken out. There is considerable danger to the workmenin-the use of back up tongs for this purpose for the'reason that if theback up post on the rotary table should become broken or the backupItong should become disengaged therefrom, said back up tongs willrapidly revolve about the derrick floor and will be liable to injure theworkmen. The apparatus herein described dispenses with the use of saidback up tongs.

Another object of the invention is to provide, in apparatus of thischaracter, a pipe holder which is seated and keyed in the bushing of therotary table and with which the drill stem or other pipe suspended maybe clutched and which not only supports the string of pipe but whichholds the suspended string against rotation while breaking out the jointabove.

With the above and other objects in view, this invention has particularrelation to certain novel features of construction, operation andarrangement of parts, an example of which is given in this specificationand illustrated in the accompanying drawing, wherein:-

Figure 1 shows a side view of the apparatus partly in section, showingconventional elevators applied to the string or stem in the process ofelevating the same while the string or stem is being broken up andwithdrawn from the bore.

Figure 2 shows a side elevation of the apparatus showing the stringsuspended fromv the rotary drilling machine, and a break out tongapplied to the suspended string.

Figure 3 shows a plan view of the rotary table showing the drive bushingseated therein.

Figure 4 shows a top plan view of a pipe holder, and

Figure 5 shows a side elevation thereof.

In the drawing the numeral l designates a rotary table of theconventional rotary drilling machine, and which is mounted on the conebearings 2, which run in a raceway in the base 3 of the drillingmachine. The rotary table has the central opening or passageway 4 forthe drill stem s or other pipe. The upper end of this opening isdownwardly tapered forming the seat 5. Above the seat 5, around theopening 4, the upper face of the rotary table is counter-sunk, forming apolygonal depression 6, preferably square, to receive thecorrespondingly shaped upper end I of the drive bushing 8. This bushingis downwardly tapered to fit closely into the seat 5 and said bushinghas the inside downwardly converging seat 9 which is provided with thekeys spaced apart therearound. The lower ends of these keys terminate atthe inside annular shoulder ll of the drive bushing.

There is a pipe holder formed of the arcuate sections I2, I2- which arehinged together on one side by the hinge l3 and at said last mentionedside said holder has the outwardly extended handle l4. At the oppositeside the sections have the handles I5, I whereby the holder may be swungopen or closed. The holder is shaped to be seated in the drive bushing 8and has the external keyways I 6, whose lower ends are flared to readilyreceive the keys Ii] when the holder is seated in said bushing. Thisholder is shaped also to fit closely about the drill stem I! to behandled.

At intervals along the drill stem a special type of coupling as I8 isprovided. The lower end of this coupling I8 is enlarged and screwed ontothe upper end of the section of drill stem beneath, and the lower end ofsaid coupling is provided with ratchet teeth l9 shaped to engagecorresponding ratchet teeth 20 on the upper end of the pipe holder andthese intermeshing teeth are so pitched as to hold the suspended stringagainst turning when it is attempted to unscrew the joint of the drillstem above as illustrated in Figure 2. The upper end 2| of the couplingI8 is enlarged and formed with the internally threaded box 22 to receivethe pin of the tool joint member 23 connected to the drill stem sectionabove. Between its upper and lower ends the special coupling I8 isreduced to receive the conventional elevators 24 which may be engagedaround said coupling beneath the enlarged upper end 2| thereof. The hook25 of the conventional tackle block may be engaged through the bales ofthe elevator and this tackle block is manipulated in the usual way bymeans of the usual cable operating over the crown block of the derrickwhereby the drill stem may be elevated or lowered.

When it is desired to break out a drill stem or other pipe, in a wellbore, the elevators 24 may be engaged around the coupling I8 and thedrill stem then elevated as shown in Figure 2. The pipe holder may bethen seated in the drive bushingaround the drill stem and beneaththe-coupling l8 immediately above. The handles 14: and I are useful inhandling the pipe holder in so seating it in the drive bushing. When soseated the keys l0 seat in the keyways Hi. The drill stem may be nowlowered until the teeth l9 intermesh with the teeth 20 and tong 26 maybe applied to the pin member 23 and said tong then manipulated to theleft to unscrew said pin member from the box 22 beneath and thesuspended string will be held against turning during this operation bythe intermeshing teeth I9, 20 and will also be supported in suspendedposition by said pipe holder. The broken out section of the stem or pipemay be then laid aside and the elevators 24 lowered and engaged aboutthe coupling l8 immediately above the rotary table and the stem or pipeelevated as before, and another section broken out until the entire stemor string of pipe is broken up and removed from the bore.

When it is desired to make up a stem or string in lowering the same intothe bore, a section may be lowered by the use of the elevators andsupported on the pipe holder in the drive bushing and the elevators thenremoved and another section of the stem or string picked up and the pinmember at the lower end thereof screwed into the box 22 of the suspendedsection. The string or stem may then be picked up a suflicient distanceto permit the removal of the pipe holder from the drive bushing 8 andwhen said holder is removed the connected sections may be lowered.

The pipe holder is then again seated in the drive bushing so that thecoupling l8 at the upper end of the connected string may seat thereon tohold the string or stem suspended while the elevators are being removedand another section connected to the upper end of the suspended stringor stem as before and this operation repeated until the string is madeup.

The drawing and description disclose what is now considered to be apreferred form of the invention by way of illustration only, while thebroad principle of the invention will be defined by the appended claims.a

What I claim is: r I

1. In apparatus of the character described, a pipe holder formed ofsections hinged together at one side and open at the outer side, theupper end of the holder having ratchet teeth.

2. In apparatus of the character described, a pipe holder formed ofsections, arcuate in cross sectional contour, and hinged together, saidholder having a tapered lower end and its upper end provided withratchet teeth pitched in a right hand direction.

3. The combination with a support having a downwardly converging seat,of a tubular, sectional pipe holder whose lower end is tapered to fitinto said seat and whose upper end is formedwith ratchet teeth.

4. In combination, a support having a seat, a holder shaped to surrounda pipe and whose lower end is adapted to fit into said seat, a pipefitted through the holder and having an enlarged coupling to rest on theholder and. support the pipe, said coupling and holder havingintermeshing parts to prevent their relative rotation in one directionbut to permit such rotation in the other direction.

5. In combination a rotary table having an opening for the passage of apipe therethrough, a holder seated on said table and formed of sectionsand shaped to surround a pipe, a pipe through said holder and having ashoulder which rests on the holder whereby the pipe issuspended from theholder, said pipe and holder having interengaging means to prevent theirrelative rotation in one direction but to permit such rotation in theother direction.

6. In combination a rotary table having an opening for the passage of apipe therethrough, a holder seated on said table and formed of sectionsand shaped to surround a pipe, a pipe through said holder and having ashoulder which rests on the holder whereby the pipe is suspended fromthe holder, said pipe and holder having interengaging ratchet teeth toprevent'their rel-' ative rotation, and means to prevent the rotation ofthe holder relative to thetable.

WALTER L. C-HURCH.

